Tyranny of the Urgent

Charles E. Hummel wrote, “Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day?” Hummel answers his own question: “But wouldn’t we soon be just as frustrated as we are now with our twenty-four-hour allotment?” (How about a 13-month year?) By page 4, the author is almost poetic: “The winds of other people’s demands and our own inner compulsions, have driven us onto a reef of frustration.” Time is not the problem, Hummel preaches, the problem is priorities. “We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important.” Hummel, who served as executive director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and president of Barrington College, died in 2004 at age 81. His popular pamphlet packs a punch. He quotes Jesus’ prayer in John 17, at the conclusion of his 33-year ministry: “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” The author pokes us: are we crowding our schedules with “priorities” not assigned to us by our Father? Yikes! He documents how Jesus often left, or postponed, pressing priorities to focus on his Father’s work. What a life-giving reminder! Hummel points us to Mark 1:35 and asks, “What was the secret of Jesus’ ministry?” The author blends theology with practicality and mentions a student who was proud of his “stewardship of time” and rejected Hummel’s counsel to begin tracking his time. But a month later, this engineering major relented and upon conducting his own time inventory, found an extra six hours per week that could be better utilized! He wrote Hummel to thank him. More Insights: • On budgeting your time—there’s no need to change everything overnight. “Our Lord is a gracious teacher who helps us to learn one lesson at a time.” • “I have come to realize that I am the indispensable person only until the moment I say no.” • Schedule one hour per week for a spiritual inventory assessment. “Ironically, the busier we get, the more we need these periods—and the less we seem able to schedule them. We become like the fanatic, who unsure of his direction, doubles his speed.” “Over the years, I have found that one of the greatest struggles in the Christian life is the effort to make adequate time for: • daily waiting on God, • weekly inventory, • and monthly planning. Yet this is the path to escaping the tyranny of the urgent.” Hummel was the author of numerous books, including two full-length books on the “tyranny of the urgent” theme: • “Priorities: Tyranny of the Urgent (Christian Basics Bible Studies: Six Studies for Individuals or Groups)," by Charles E. Hummel. • "Freedom from Tyranny of the Urgent," by Charles E. Hummel. (Note: Winner of the 2004 ECPA Platinum Book Award). So…can we live on just 24 hours each day? Yes!

This is a highly recommended booklet that many Christian organizations require, or at least suggest, for their students, ministers or missionaries. It is short (31 booklet pages that can be read in about 30 minutes or less) and easy to read with simple, practical steps for how to prioritize your life activities so that you can have peace knowing that you are doing the important things that are in keeping with your goals, rather than being tyrannized by "urgent," but less important, things. The booklet is addressed to Christians but a non-Christian can apply the principles. I recommend this little book to anyone who considers him/herself to be a servant of God. If you are too busy serving to read this little pamphlet, you might be too busy. This booklet might NOT be helpful to you if: --You already mangage time well AND you feel that you are on track with goals and priorities (but it could be a could reminder or refresher) --You are looking for examples or detailed how-to steps (this book would be a starting point if you haven't started) --You don't want to read anything with God in it.

This is a classic that every Christian should read. It distinguishes between what is urgent on the one hand and what is important on the other hand. This is an essential distinction that every Christian (probably every person) should learn. Hummel then proposes a way to make the important drive the urgent rather than the other way around. This plan uses a daily time with God, a weekly evaluation, and monthly planning. The examples are somewhat dated; he considers a phone on a wall to be obtrusive without imagining mobile phones with texting and social media. Also, his picture of Jesus tends toward that of a really good human teacher. Still, the fundamental point is worth this read of less than 30 minutes.

Great little book, but sadly was supposed to be new and the back had a bunch of ‘goo’ and sticky stuff on it. 😢

Great reminder & more relevant now than ever with the speed of technology rushing us even more.

My former pastor recommended this book in Sunday school class one day. I bought and downloaded it immediately! The irony is that its taken me years to finally devote time to read it. This is a great book to help you overcome the burdens this world holds over proper time management. By resetting your priorities, you can then reset your focus. Hummel helps us develop strategies to set the God ordained priorities of each individual life. If you struggle with time management, like I do, you HAVE to read this book!!!!!

This book is an excellent reminder of the absolute fact that “time” is a constant and we cannot really have “too much” or “not enough”. Rather, we set priorities for the time we have. In some ways, blaming “time” for why we don’t do things or get things done is to blame God and absolve ourselves of the responsibility we have to prioritize our time rightly.

This is a great little book to read, however... This price is actually really high for what you get. This is a very small and very short book. It should be printed larger and then it may be worth the price charged. Additionally, the font on multiple pages was very light because the printer must have been running out of ink. The small font with faded text made it hard to read on those pages.

A brilliant time management book. Highly challenging. Easy to read. Recommended for business and ministry leaders or anyone who wants to be a better steward of their time.

I got a small booklet for the price of book. I returned it straight away.

Urgent (and relatively important) matters can often conspire to crowd out the really important things in life. This little book is a call to action against these tyrants. What can be more important than ensuring our eternal destiny is assured. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Mark 8:36. A short read but a message we all need to hear.

Liked the simplicity and applicability. Scripture rooted. Too short. A must read for Every busy professional. Transformational insights and tips.

This short book is a perfect reminder that we all have the same number of hours in the day to achieve our aims. Stop for a moment and make an inventory, to enable you to live with with greater devotion and productivity. The world as a whole, continues, wherever you are or aren’t in it. Your personal sphere of calm can enhance it so do make time to pray and maintain perspective.